The Open Bell

By Alex Monroe

The Open Bell is an independent financial news show — a daily podcast and newsletter for people who are affected by markets, policy, and the economy.

Every episode follows the same process:

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FAQs about The Open Bell:

How many episodes does The Open Bell have?

The podcast currently has 8 episodes available.

The Open Bell episodes:

July 02, 2026 The Open Bell — Ep. 005 — 2 Jul 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
Meta has spent years hoarding AI chips, and it's bought so many that it's now turning itself into a cloud computing business to lease the excess out, which apparently came as enough of a shock to markets that it knocked more than 10% off several chipmakers in a single day.
UK energy bills jumped 13% on July 1, the biggest quarterly increase since the 2022 crisis, and the country that has to absorb that hit is currently running without a prime minister.
The US added only 98,000 private-sector jobs in June, one of the weakest prints in well over a year, but wages are still rising fast enough that the Federal Reserve, which sets interest rates in part to keep price pressures in check, has no real reason to cut rates any time soon.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:17 Meta Cloud Pivot Wipes Billions from Global Chip Stocks
03:03 UK Energy Bills to Jump 13% in July as Ofgem Raises Price Ca
05:31 US June ADP Payrolls Miss: Private Hiring Slows to 98,000
06:59 Closing thoughts
...more
8min
July 01, 2026 The Open Bell — Ep. 004 — 1 Jul 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
Oil just posted its worst quarter since the pandemic, down 38% in three months, and the story isn't just cheap petrol: it's that a collapse this big reshapes everything from Saudi Arabia's government budget to how hard the Fed has to fight inflation.
The Fed's own internal forecasts spooked markets badly enough last week that traders now price a one-in-three chance of a rate hike in July, which matters to anyone with a mortgage, a business loan, or the vague hope that borrowing was about to get cheaper.
Japan's central bank is sitting at its highest interest rate since 1995 and the yen is still falling, because when the US looks like it might tighten even further, every other currency gets dragged along for the ride.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Brent Crude Slides Below $70, Sealing 38% Quarterly Collapse
02:54 Fed Rate-Hike Odds Surge to 36% After Hawkish June Dot Plot
05:15 Japan's BOJ Holds at 1.00% as Fed Divergence Pushes Yen Lowe
07:13 Closing thoughts
...more
8min
June 30, 2026 The Open Bell — Ep. 003 — 30 Jun 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
The US and Iran agreed to stop shooting at each other across the Strait of Hormuz, and oil markets dropped so fast you'd think someone had flipped a switch, which is exactly what happened.
The Dow Jones, the 30-stock index that's been tracking American business since 1896, crossed 52,000 for the first time in its history, and the uncomfortable truth is that Google joining the club had more to do with it than anything the economy actually did this week.
If you own a Nasdaq index fund, a tracker that holds the hundred biggest tech and growth stocks on the exchange, you're now a SpaceX investor, because the company joined the index and passive funds are required to buy it, no vote, no opt-out, just automatic.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:17 US and Iran Agree Ceasefire Standdown; Doha Talks Set for Ju
03:42 Dow Tops 52,000 First Time as Alphabet Joins Blue-Chip Index
06:08 SpaceX Joins Nasdaq-100, Forcing Passive Funds to Buy $30B+
07:45 Closing thoughts
...more
9min
June 29, 2026 The Open Bell — Ep. 002 — 29 Jun 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
Venezuela's earthquake death toll has passed 1,450, the country's worst in over a century, and the fact that U.S. Marines are now surveying its main port tells you something important about who actually has leverage in a disaster — even one involving a government Washington has spent years trying to isolate.
The European Central Bank hiked rates just weeks ago for the first time since 2023, markets are now pricing another hike by December, and the North African conflict that's been driving energy costs across the continent is the reason your heating bill has a European accent right now.
Alphabet joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average — that's the 30-company list most people mean when they say "the market is up today" — replacing a phone company, which is either a statement about how the economy has changed or the most obvious thing to happen in markets all year, depending on how much credit you give the people who run these things.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Venezuela quake death toll hits 1,450; U.S. Marines begin La
03:13 ECB December hike now fully priced as eurozone flash CPI loo
05:47 Alphabet joins Dow Jones at Monday open, ending Verizon's 8-
07:49 Closing thoughts
...more
9min
June 23, 2026 The Open Bell — Ep. 001 — 23 Jun 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
Iran announced the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow channel that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil — was closed, on the exact same day the US quietly granted Iran permission to sell more of that oil, which tells you everything you need to know about how well these Switzerland talks are actually going.
SpaceX pulled off the biggest stock market debut in years, pocketed $75 billion, and then immediately walked over to the bond market — where companies borrow by issuing debt to investors — to ask for $20 billion more, which is either visionary capital strategy or a sign that building a rocket empire costs more than even a $75 billion payday can cover.
For the first time in 25 years, an AI chip company just knocked the previous king off the top of the global stock market rankings — the list of the most valuable companies on Earth — and if that feels distant from your life, consider that most pension funds are still catching up to a shift that already happened.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:23 Iran's Hormuz Closure Statement Rattles Oil as Switzerland T
03:26 SpaceX Launches $20bn Bond Sale Days After Record $75bn IPO
05:43 AI Boom Crowns New Global Market Cap Leader for First Time S
07:40 Closing thoughts
...more
9min
June 19, 2026 The Open Bell — 19 Jun 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
Brent is still above $100 and the ceasefire holding the Strait of Hormuz together is contested enough that calling it a ceasefire feels generous — this is the biggest oil supply shock in recorded history, and it isn't over.
Kevin Warsh chaired his first FOMC meeting and walked out threatening rate hikes, not cuts — and the bond market's reaction was the loudest it's been on a Fed day in nearly two decades.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
...more
7min
June 18, 2026 The Open Bell — 18 Jun 2026
Today on The Open Bell:
American consumers spent nearly twice what forecasters expected in May, which sounds like great news until you ask whether they're actually better off or just paying more for the same stuff.
China has just published a five-year plan to lock down global critical minerals, and Europe is already reaching for import quotas — the materials trade war that's been simmering for years is starting to boil.
Brazil is sitting on a 13.5% interest rate with inflation still running hot, but falling oil prices — a side effect of geopolitics nobody saw coming — may quietly hand its central bank the exit ramp it's been waiting for.
Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co
Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
...more
9min
June 13, 2026 The Open Bell — Coming Soon
Here's something nobody tells you: the global economy doesn't ask permission before it rearranges your life.

Interest rates, oil prices, currency moves, trade deals — these aren't abstractions happening to someone else. They're why your mortgage payment went up. They're why your weekly shop costs more than it did two years ago. And they're why your pension is doing whatever it's doing right now, whether you've checked it or not.

I'm Alex Monroe, and The Open Bell is a daily financial podcast for curious, intelligent adults who want to understand markets — but don't work in them. Every weekday morning, plain English, around ten minutes.

Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts. The first episode drops soon.

Not investment advice. For informational purposes only.
...more
2min

FAQs about The Open Bell:

How many episodes does The Open Bell have?

The podcast currently has 8 episodes available.